My age is beginning to creep up on me. After years of playing sports, running chainsaws, lifting things that I really shouldn’t have been lifting and abusing my body in countless other ways, my back just isn’t the same. I’m not crying uncle yet, and I realize that there are many others whose physical ailments are so much worse than my own, but I have come to understand that something is out of whack, slightly bent or broken or crooked.

Each morning I spend at least twenty minutes attending to my back, stretching this way and that, twisting it just so far but no further, strengthening here and loosening there. While my mind may be racing to the other tasks before me for the day, I have come to realize that caring for my crooked back each day is essential. And so, I do my exercises every day. At first it was so difficult to find the time and establish the habit. Now, however, I almost look forward to the time spent doing what I know I need to do to make my back stronger.

Of course, it’s not just my back that is crooked and slightly bent out of shape. My back is just an outward and visible sign of other parts of my life that have gone awry. Strained relationships, bad habits, tasks left undone, unflattering attitudes, things done and left undone. All of this, I am afraid, has left my whole life looking a bit bent and in need of some serious attention.

The Bible tells of a man named John who was able to see the bent and brokenness of his own life and of the world. John in the Wilderness knew that he had to do something about it. “He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: ‘A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all people will see God’s salvation.’ (Luke 3:2-6)”

Now, its important to note that while John spent many of his days baptizing people in the Jordan River, it wasn’t the ritual of baptism itself that caused the crookedness of the people’s lives to become less crooked. It wasn’t magic water or magic hands or magic words that made the difference. Rather it was the love and power of God that brought about the change. And it was the determination of these desperately seeking people to find a way, a different way, a way that led of love and of life. Crooked ways are made straight and rough ways made smooth in the lives of people when they allow the power of God in Christ Jesus to take root and do its work.

I wish that I could just snap my fingers and my bent back would be made straight once again. I wish that I could just blink my eyes and all of the brokenness of my life and the life of the world would be magically healed. We all know, however, that it doesn’t work like that. For the crooked roads to become straight and for the rough ways to become smooth, there must be much care and attention and work that go into the endeavor. God has done God’s part in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. God continues to do God’s work through the Holy Spirit within us that heals and guides and empowers.

God doesn’t force repentance upon us, however. Day by day, it is up to each of us to carefully examine our lives and, when necessary, to repent. Just as caring for my back requires daily care and effort, caring for our souls is a day by day discipline to which we must attend. We may be assured, however, that God is with us each and every day, loving us just as we are and giving us everything we need to straighten up the bent and crooked spots of our lives.

~Father Art